The Old Country

Before Chad and I left Charlotte, my father, amongst many well wishes, jokingly remarked, "Say hello to the old country for me." So, to the old country we went. My father and his two sisters grew up in the small mussel fishing village of Bruinisse on the southern island of Zeeland. I've been here several times as a child and teenager, but on this visit I think I was better able to understand a bit of what my father's life might have been like. 

The mussel harbor which coincidentally hosted a mussel fest that same afternoon.

Zeeuwse Mussel pride

A bakery owned by my the father and brother of my father's childhood best friend. 

This is baker Daan (who gave us free treats!)

Sprucing up my grandmother's grave

That's a bit better. On her headstone reads (in Dutch) "My grace is sufficient for you". The same phrase-in English of course-is transcribed in my brother's headstone as well.

(foreground) my great-grandfather (back) my grandfather

The home on the right was my father's

Zierikzee, another town on Zeeland where my father went to secondary school.

Tante Tineke resting while we enjoy a cup of coffee at (formerly) Koss and Toss; a common hangout spot of my aunt and father.

Chadwick :)

Belgian Frites-which are always served with mayonnaise. Now, I am not a mayonnaise fan, but this mayonnaise tastes completely different-and better-than ours. Where can I get some?!

The oldest building in Zierikzee dating back to the 14th century.

The North Sea

The Kik family provided us with some mussels 

And here was our dinner-fresh from the sea.

Chad enjoying a classic Bruinisse meal. (I ate a sandwich.)

K + C

London Town, Day 2 & 3

And here are the snapshots from day 2 and the morning of day 3 before we caught our flight back to Gouda. (There is so much I want to share I am finding it hard to choose between all of the photos!)

The Tower of London

Henry VIII's armor

The White Tower

Do you think this hat will catch on in Charlotte?

The Tower

We embraced our inner tourist spirits and boarded "the eye".

Here we are!

Westminster Abbey, perhaps my most celebrated moment in London. Not only is it aesthetically stunning, but we made the acquaintance of a Westminster Abbey staff member who walked me through the details of the royal wedding. We also saw the burial sites of literary giants such as Geoffrey Chaucer, Lord Tennyson, Robert Browning and also Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin. 

Chad waiting on lunch (free from the cold and rain) at the Dickens Inn next to St. Katherine's Docks. Fun Fact: Dickens Inn was built by Charles Dickens' great grandson.

That was one giant (yummy) latte to warm me up.

Chad beside Tower Bridge in Olympic dress

The Natural History Museum was just a two minute walk from our hotel (and free!).

That was one large dinosaur!

The museum featured an Animal Inside Out exhibit, similar to Bodies. This here was camel.

And strange armored ... thing.

Bought some goodies from this small shop.

Chicken Tikka Masala for dinner.

A day's worth of site-seeing makes a girl hungry.

Another favorite spot: Millennium Bridge. Here, looking south at Tate Modern

Looking north here at St. Paul's 

A closer view-we climbed to the top of that dome.

I had to walk up the stairs quite quickly to keep up with the senior citizens in front of me! 

Stay tuned for more.

K+C

London Town, Day 1

My favorite city to date, London. A quick train ride from Cambridge to central London provided us with two and a half days to have a "jolly good time". Thankfully, I am familiar with London-speifically the underground and bus system-which made it easier to see and do so much. Here are some snapshots...

Our underground stop.

Why hello there Buckingham Palace.

Yay! The sun came out!

As did the new guards.

Posing with our new friend, Big Ben.

I might surrender my cell phone if I could make calls from these all the time.

Trafalgar Square from the National British Museum's steps. You can't see it much from this shot, but the entire square looked much different in wake of the Olympic preparations.

Classic Piccadilly Circus

Abbey Road!

Oh yes, we did...

It was quite embarrassing, but good fun as well. 

Royal Albert Hall

Catching up with the newlywed.

Six years ago this is where I lived while studying for a summer semester abroad...14 Queens Gate. 

Victoria and Albert Museum

The field of champions.

Covent Garden

As you can tell, these art rendered phone booths covered the town. Various local artists created their own designs. I got a good chuckle out of this one.

I LOVED watching him discover London.

"Do you know the muffin man..."

All this on just the first day explains why I was in bed by 9 pm. Stay tuned for more...

K + C